from www.entertainment.iaafrica.com – TopTV wants to file a lawsuit against a new pornographic channel, reports Beeld.
Marius Liebenberg of TopTV says the satellite broadcaster is accusing Porn Satellite Television (PSat) of misrepresentation and abuse of the TopTV brand.
This follows African Satellite Installations (ASI) announcement of plans to launch a 24-hour porn channel in January.
If the launch goes ahead, South Africans will be able to hire an extra decoder and smart card for R99 a month to view the hardcore content. Viewers would then disconnect their TopTV decoder and plug in the Psat one.
However, Liebenberg has said that the practice is “illegal”, and told Beeld that “PSat encourages buyers of the channel to disconnect their TopTV decoders, but is not telling users that it’s illegal. These actions violate TopTV’s rights.”
However, John Solomon of ASI claims that TopTV has no grounds for a lawsuit.
Beeld quotes him as saying, “The French channel has been known in African countries for three years already and I don’t need to obtain a licence for that. I am also only the distributor of the decoder and not the broadcaster or the owner of the channel.
“Various channels, like TopTV and PSat, rent space on the Astra 4A satellite. Decoders that are purchased locally can only receive certain channels. All I do is sell a decoder that can receive those pornography channels.”
He also claimed that more than 2 500 interested parties had already contacted him.
However, Icasa spokesperson Paseka Maleka said that Solomon had to get Icasa’s approval before he could distribute the decoders.
Maleka told Beeld: “It is not clear where these decoders are coming from. Icasa must approve the import of the equipment first before it can be distributed.
“In addition, Icasa has not received an application for a licence for the distribution of pornography from PSat. Because viewers must subscribe to the channel, it is subject to Icasa’s approval.”
Meanwhile, TopTV has also applied for a licence from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) for permission to broadcast three pornographic channels of its own, reports Beeld.